First things first, some context.
I’m part of a collective called POST who are based in Liverpool and since 2008 we have been developing international artist’s exchange oppotunities as a group. We began with an ambitious project called riPOSTe, which saw our 7 female members exchange with 7 female artists from the city of Linz, Austria (http://www.postliverpool.com/projects.html). Our plan from the start was to capitalise on Liverpool’s Capital of Culture year in 2008, so our next city on the list was Istanbul, Capital of Culture in 2010.
We’ve spent a while working out how best to work together again for this project, and have spent some time developing relationships with some artists in Istanbul who we have met through an artist we met while we were in Linz. We are conscious that group working, especially in an international context can take a lot of time, effort and heart, so we are exploring new ways for us to work together both in the UK and across the 2000 miles between Liverpool and Istanbul.
So we are embarking on a project called TRADING STATION, which will see us explore the use of virtual, technological methods combined with the physical exchange of art, objects and people as we research a sustainable way for POST to continue with our group practice in future.
POST currently consists of 5 female members, Cecilia Kinnear, Amanda Oliphant, Susan Myerhoff Sharples and Claire Weetman and Robyn Woolston. Founder member Katriona Beales can be found elsewhere in Artists Talking at the moment documenting her Tokyo adventures, and Jennie Cunningham has taken a break from the collective. We plan to work with four artists in Istanbul: Gulcin Aksoy, Gozde Ilkin & Yasemin Nur Toksoy who also form arts collective Atılkunst (http://atilkunst.blogspot.com/), and Nancy Atakan (http://www.nancyatakan.com/)
And that brings us to today – I’ve just arrived in Istanbul for a week and am looking forward to meeting the four artists that we plan to work with. I found keeping a time-sensitive blog useful when I was in Schiedam in Aug/Sept last year (www.a-n.co.uk/p/1492804/) so I’ve decided to do the same here.
For info, my trip here is funded by a UK Trade and Industry gap grant– a useful pot of money which is covering my flights and transport, with the aim of developing my ‘export’ potential and income from foreign sources, so fingers crossed that that happens over the next few months.
